From:
dr_bruce_williams
Date: 2002-02-05 14:41:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Fungal skin infectins?
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., "Ulrike Stanley" <ferretlove@n...>
wrote:
> Hello
>
> My Willow was spayed 2 weeks ago and shortly after her spay I
noticed a
> "sore" on her back below her left shoulder. I thought it was a
reaction to
> an antibiotic shot. A few days later I noticed yet another one of
the round
> skin things. I blamed it on the second shot she had when she had
another
> antibiotic and diuretic shot. But when I noticed a third one, I
became
> worried. I shaved the coat around the things to have a better
look. First
> I thought they were abscesses but they didn't behave like an
abscess, they
> are very superficial and there's no puss seeping out. Plus Willow
has been
> on antibiotics for 8 days, yet those things happily developed, not
at all
> affected by the antibiotic (Synulox) which usually makes abscesses
disappear
> so quickly. They start as yellow/green(ish) round circles with a
red circle
> of thickened skin around them, then you see a red dot appear in the
centre,
> this dot becomes bigger and turns into a bloody looking scab which
soon
> covers the whole sore and then the scab gets smaller until it is
healed. A
> friend now said they look like a fungal infection? Probably
candida? Has
> anybody had this before? This would mean that my Gremlin didn't
have an
> abscess after her spay last year but also a fungal infection.
Except hers
> was huge, 2 1/2 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide. I never saw
puss coming
> out but it looked like there was puss underneath the skin (like it
did with
> Willow). But Gremlin's infection behaved the same way that
Willow's sores
> are behaving now. If anybody wants to have a look at Gremlin's
sore, it's
> here
>
> www.ferretlove.co.uk/gremlin.htm
>
> I have uploaded 2 of Willow's pictures. One from last Friday, one
from
> Monday. They are here:
>
Dear Ulrike:
This doesn't look so much like a fungal infection as it does like a
superficial skin infection, also known as pyoderma. In pyoderma -
the skin infection is superficial, and doesn't develop an pus pcket,
like an abscess does.
Ringworm generally is white, crusty, and the hair falls out by itself.
I hate to send her back, but two things to do for the definitive
diagnosis - one is a skin scarping with inouclation of a DTM test to
see if a dermatophyte fungus grows, and two - a skin biopsy of one of
the affected areas.
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, DVM